Search smh:

Search in:

Inu ready to fire after suspension dramas

Ian McCullough

Canterbury centre Krisnan Inu has no complaints about his two enforced spells on the sidelines this year but admits it's been a season of frustration.

Inu was slugged with a five-game ban for a sickening spear tackle that saw South Sydney fullback Greg Inglis dumped on his head in the Rabbitohs' 17-12 win on Good Friday.

His return to action against Newcastle in May also landed the mercurial Inu in hot water as he was charged with making unnecessary leg pressure on Knights winger James McManus and handed another two-week suspension.

The 25-year-old maintains he's not a spiteful or malicious player and the incidents were accidental, but concedes they were not a good look.

Advertisement

"I was just holding his leg and all of a sudden he (Inglis) was on his head. I didn't try and do that, it was just an awkward tackle that went wrong," Inu said on Wednesday.

"I didn't realise how bad it was and then I saw the replay. Straight away I stretched out my hand to him and said sorry.

"I didn't mean anything by it, but I knew I was going to cop a hefty suspension for it.

"But it's just part of the game and I have no complaints, you just have to cop it on the chin if you do something wrong."

Inu's ban came in the middle of a difficult run for the Bulldogs who lost five of their opening six games.

But he said his second ban was more frustrating as it came after he'd been flogged hard in the gym by Des Hasler and his staff for more than a month without a game to look forward to at the end of each week.

"It wasn't much of a holiday I can tell you, doing all the hard stuff in the gym and not playing," he said.

"The second ban was hard to take as I had just come back from suspension.

"It may not have looked that way but it was an accident, the guy (McManus) just got caught under my arms.

"I would never go out there to try and hurt anyone."

Inu faces his former club, cellar-dwelling Parramatta, on Friday and although he's still very close to Eels stars Tim Mannah and Jarryd Hayne - he feels no sympathy for their plight.

"You don't feel sorry for any team, you want to go out there and play the game," he said.

"They are not going as well as they should, but we are going to go out there and play our best football.

"This is always a big game. When I was at Parra I never wanted to lose to the Bulldogs and now I am at the Bulldogs I don't want to lose to Parra."